Zucchini Bread

Even after the enormous stuffed zucchini, we still have quite a bit of zucchini left - I made this zucchini bread which came out very good - I froze one loaf and we will see how that does when we defrost it - I think it will be nice toasted once it is defrosted.  And now only another 2/3 of a very large zucchini left - not sure what we will do with that yet.....

Ingredients

6 egg whites
 (I used egg-replacer instead)

1/4 cup canola oil


1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce


1/2 cup sugar


2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour


1 1/4 cups whole-wheat (whole-meal) flour


1 teaspoon baking powder


1 teaspoon baking soda


3 teaspoons ground cinnamon


2 cups shredded zucchini


1/2 cup chopped walnuts


1 1/2 cups crushed, unsweetened pineapple


1/2 cup raisins


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the egg replacer, canola oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed until thick and foamy.

In a small bowl, stir together the flours. Set 1/2 cup aside. Add the baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon to the small bowl of flour.

Add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture and using the electric mixer on medium speed, beat until well blended. Add the zucchini, pineapple and cranberries and stir until combined. Adjust consistency of the batter with the remaining 1/2 cup flour, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. The batter should be thick and not runny.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into each prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the loaves out of the pans onto the rack and let cool completely. Cut each loaf into 9 1-inch slices and serve.

Stuffed Zucchini

There must be at least 100 different recipes available for stuffed zucchini which are all good - I put this together based on what we had in the pantry and refrigerator.  The zucchini came from Tim's cousin Kelly's garden - and they told us these were small compared to some they had already picked.

1 very large zucchini squash (or 2-3 smaller zucchini)

2 cups garbanzo beans

1 large onion

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 T. Olive oil

2 carrots, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 cup cooked quinoa

¼ cup vegan shredded “cheese”

Preheat oven to 350.

Slice the Zucchini lengthwise into two pieces.  Scoop out the insides of the zucchini, chop the portion which was removed into small pieces and set aside.

Chop onion, mince garlic and dice jalapeno pepper, add to a frying pan with olive oil.  Saute onions, pepper and garlic for about 5 minutes. 

Add carrots and zucchini pieces to frying pan, cook until zucchini and carrots are softened, about 15 minutes.  There will be some liquid coming from the zucchini as it cooks allow this to evaporate while cooking without a lid on the pan.

Add the garbanzo beans and quinoa to the frying pan and heat through.  

Add stuffing to the zucchini shells and place into 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes.  Add optional vegan shredded “cheese” and put back into the oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese.  Slice into servings and enjoy!